Question
I have moss on my lawn and when I started to rake the old grass and moss, everything came up and brought it down to the topsoil.  I seeded this last year and everything died.  How can I treat my lawn to prevent this?  My lawn is partially shaded but does get good sun and water.  Thank you.

Answer
Unfortunately, this leaves many details out which make it difficult, but I can tell you that it sounds very much like there's just too much shade. I know you said that it gets plenty of sun, but moss + a weak root system + grass dying off usually indicates excessive shade.

If this is the case, the only real answer is to get more sunlight in. That can usually be done by pruning branches from the trees.

People often respond to this by explaining that the tree work cannot be done for some reason, so what else do I recommend? Unfortunately, that's it. If there's not enough sunlight, no chemical, fertilizer, or amount of water can change the fact that the grass isn't getting what it needs.

I hope this helps. Thanks for writing in.

-C.J. Brown
www.TheLawnCoach.com